


11 Minutes

by AwokenMonster



Category: Three Days Grace (Band)
Genre: Angst, Booty Call, Denial, Heartbreak, M/M, My Darkest Days era, Rebound
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-22
Updated: 2019-04-22
Packaged: 2020-01-24 02:52:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,057
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18562435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AwokenMonster/pseuds/AwokenMonster
Summary: After yet another bad break-up, Matt finds himself calling his fix again. Though Neil's unavailable this time.Neil/Mattrated T for swearing and mentions of sex?





	11 Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> Monster: Hi guys! Been far too long since I wrote for this ship but I still have 5 works in progress for it. I had a smooth mood going on thanks to this fic and the song 11 Minutes but then Youtube went "Here's some I Prevail and Palisades", oops. Enjoy!

_Summary;_

_After yet another bad break, Matt finds himself calling his fix again. Only Neil isn’t available this time_.

 

Nothing new under the sun, nope. It had been nothing new to happen to Matt of all people. Hadn’t he been kind? Wasn’t he a good guy? He could offer a girl some banter, some fun, but to keep a girl? Nah, Matt’s just around for a good time.

The blonde found himself scoffing at his own thoughts, pacing back and forth slowly in his own living room. He’d been okay with some dates here and there and some fleeting, quick romances that ended in nothing but a goodbye. It had been fun; not being tied down to anyone but he had really liked this girl.

This one girl caught his eye and he’d been keen on getting to know her, date her and see if he could gather some information that would turn her into yet another quick ending romance. He hadn’t found anything and found himself enjoying her presence. She made him smile, she made him happy. He wanted to protect her and be her king to fight off all competition.

He took a swing of his beer, grumbling at the idea. He’d been fucking stupid to open up like that. All for some stupid girl who decided he wasn’t worth her time. He was so fucking mad at himself for letting her in. She’d entertained him for a while and Matt figured they were a good couple. Maybe he’d found himself the housewife to finally tie him down, but she had a different idea in mind.

She left.

While Matt had been touring with My Darkest Days, presumably partying and drinking like you’d expect from the Pornstar Dancing singer, right? No, he’d been missing her, texting her, calling her. He even dared to say he loved her, but she called it off. He was moving too fast for her likings and he was barely around.

Why would you even date a singer when you don’t like the fact he’s gonna be gone for months each time? Fucking stupid. Matt tossed back the bottle of beer but there was nothing left but a drop. He shook his head, feeling like even his fucking drink had abandoned him when he needed it the most. He threw the bottle somewhere, not intending for it to smash to pieces but the sound told him it had.

Fuck it, he’d clean that up later. Or never, who the fuck knows?

He combed a hand through his hair with a sigh. He shouldn’t be alone right now. He couldn’t be alone right now, but who was he supposed to rely on?

Matt remained in the middle of the living room, shifting through contacts on his phone in a blur to remember who his friends were when it stopped on one name.

 

_Neil Sanderson_

 

Boy, he’d called Neil way too often since the camping trip. Matt had always found it hard to resist a temptation that screamed “he’s your brother’s friend!”. Like, if it would piss off Brad, those used to be bonus points for Matt, really.

He’d been such a brat, wanting to push Brad’s buttons anytime he could in the past. Though they were friends now, he still found Neil the attractive forbidden fruit.

The first time he had called him after a break, had been an accident though. Matt tried to call the girl who had dumped him but accidentally ended up calling Neil. He had ranted on and on until a silence followed and he heard Neil go “Uh, wrong number, Matt.”

It had made him laugh for just a second and Neil had sensed how bad Matt was feeling. He came by and they spent the night in Matt’s living room talking about everything and nothing until Matt was in his lap, finally acting on the stupid tension that had surrounded the pair since they fucking met.

It had happened a couple more times and afterwards it had always been like it never happened. Matt pursed his lips. Should he really call Neil right now?

Fuck it.

He pressed the call button and waited, nerves ablaze even if he knew he was the one putting himself in that position again. Neil had been more than happy to come by each time, even if it was just to support Matt. It hadn’t been something more than friendly every time.

“Matt? It’s like… two in the morning, what the fuck?”

“She dumped me”, Matt blurted, knowing it would explain more than any other sentence.

There was a silence before a sigh on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I should’ve known better. I was stupid to let her in.”

“As much as I enjoy listening to your self-deprecation, Matt, is there a point to this phone call?” Neil asked, more agitated than Matt remembered.

“I-…” Matt didn’t really have an answer for him there. “I just like talking to you when I’m not okay.”

Neil didn’t respond for such a long time that Matt thought he had hung up but then an answer came anyway. “Why me?”

“You’re only 11 minutes away”, Matt muttered. “I thought you-…”

“You thought I’d come running to your place like all those other times, didn’t you?”

Such a smug attitude and yet it didn’t seem to be a playful thing at all. Neil seemed _pissed_ about the call. Matt swallowed a lump. “I didn’t think. I was hoping.”

“So you conveniently forgot I have a girlfriend?” Neil threw out there and Matt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “I um. I didn’t know that, but why would that matter? I’m just talking to you.”

“If I come over, Matt, it’s not gonna be _just talking_ ”, Neil muttered. There was some shuffling on the other end of the line and the sound of a door. “But I can remain on the phone for a bit, if you need me to.”

Matt hummed. “Does she live with you?”

“Yeah.”

“Since when?”

“Since when does she live with me?”

“No, since when have you had a girlfriend?” Matt kicked a stray shard of glass on the floor. “I really didn’t know.”

“For about a year now. She house-sits when I’m on tour so I figured she might as well stay”, Neil dropped.

Matt hummed in response. He’d been upset before the phone call but something about hearing this shit from Neil made it feel like a kick in the gut. They’d never been anything and there had never been anything there besides tension, but somehow Matt felt territorial as soon as he had mentioned a girlfriend. “Do you love her?”

“I like to think so”, Neil replied. “Did you?”

“Huh?”

Neil sighed and Matt could see him sitting on the stairs in his home, shaking his head. Though that probably wasn’t a realistic image. He knew Neil liked to walk around whenever he’d be on a phone call. He’d witnessed him walking around and around his dining table once. It was cute.

“Did you love her?” Neil repeated.

Matt shrugged. “I like to think so.”

“Then why didn’t you call her instead of me? Tell her that?” the dark blonde asked. It wasn’t a stupid question and Matt hadn’t considered it. Maybe he’d been a little too eager to say the relationship had ended so he could call Neil and see if his friend could make it all better again. He blinked at his own train of thoughts. Maybe he’d been relieved to see a relationship end so he could call Neil again.

Were his breaks really his excuses to see Neil?

“I- I don’t know”, Matt struggled to say.

He remembered the first call, how it had been an accident but how he hadn’t regretted calling Neil instead of her. He hadn’t even bothered calling her for real after the incident. He remembered the second call, how he’d broken up with her but he wanted Neil to come by anyway. He didn’t even remember why he had broken up with her. It was unsettling to remember the times he had called Neil and what for. He bit his lip, growing restless over an idea he couldn’t face right now. “I guess I’m a little confused.”

He stepped away from the shards on the floor and sat down on the couch. On the armrest he spotted his girl’s jacket. She’d be back to come fetch it but the thought didn’t make him feel anything.

“What’s confusing you?” Neil asked, the sound of creaking stairs. So he _was_ sitting on the stairs.

“You are”, Matt muttered before he could catch himself, closing his eyes at the stupid remark. Could he have been more obvious?

“Oh”, Neil responded. “Because you called me instead of her?”

“Yeah.”

Another sound of creaking stairs as Neil shifted. “Are you okay? You don’t sound like yourself.”

“I’m fine”, Matt said far too quickly. “I shouldn’t have bothered you tonight though so like, I’m just gonna head to bed and see what I can do about him in the morning.”

“You mean ‘her’?” Neil asked.

“Huh?”

“You said ‘him’.”

“I did?” Matt mused. “I meant ‘her’. Anyway, bye, Neil, thanks.”

He hung up in a hurry, a little too quickly. Neil would have to be stupid not to know something was up with Matt. Though even Matt didn’t know what the fuck was going on yet, but he knew he had to re-think the way he had thought of Neil all this time.

After several exhausting days of trying to forget he’d been in a relationship and avoiding the subject of Neil, Matt managed to clear his head. He hadn’t loved his girlfriend. That was something he knew now. He’d been attracted to her and he’d liked the banter they had but he’d never loved her at all. He’d been far too eager to call Neil once it ended. During those days Neil had tried to get a hold of him but Matt had ignored the attempts for his own good. He needed to cross him out of his contacts so he wouldn’t call him again after a break in the future.

It had been hard not to talk to him at some point during the next months but he’d been on tour with My Darkest Days again so the band was a welcome distraction. They played show after show and each show, each night made the events a little more blurry in his memory. He hadn’t liked Neil. No, he would never like him. He’d been attracted to him in the past because he had been someone he couldn’t have, probably still was, but Matt didn’t like him.

Not at all.

Nope.

Nearly a year after the incident Matt found himself playing at a festival. The weather was amazing, sun warming the place so bad he’d had to sleep with an ice pack to catch some hours. Around noon an unknown number called him on his phone.

 

“Hello?”

“Hey.”

 

Matt clenched his jaw. Right, he had deleted Neil’s phone number to make sure he couldn’t call him anymore but Neil could still call him.

 

“What’s going on?”

“We’re playing at the same festival for once”, Neil mentioned, but it came out a little awkward.

“We are? Cool”, Matt responded, rolling out of the bunk of the bus. He’d remained inside because it was scorching hot outside and he wasn’t interested in getting sunburnt. Especially not now that he’d gone blonde again. He’d forgot about bringing a stupid cap to protect his head.

Why the fuck would Neil call him about playing at the same festival though? And why wasn’t he asking about the times Matt ignored his texts?

“Have you arrived yet? Shit’s hot out here”, Matt huffed. “Like crazy hot.”

“I like it that way. Yeah, we’ve just arrived. You wanna hang out?”

Matt raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“She dumped me.”

Matt widened his eyes in surprise. He’d spent the last few months convincing himself he didn’t need Neil, he didn’t want Neil. Neil had just been his rebound after a break each time and nothing more. There was nothing going on between them! No substance.

He had told himself those things for so long now, that he felt ashamed when he replied; “Be there in 11 minutes.”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment, they're our heavy fuel! Though I know this fandom's a quiet one.
> 
>  
> 
> Obviously this fic was inspired by Halsey & Yungblud's 11 Minutes, even if it seems farfetched now. It was mostly for the "You're 11 minutes away and I've missed you all day so why aren't you here?" cause Matt really wanted Neil to show up when he called.


End file.
